In October 2005, Tony Qamar, a University of Washington professor and research scientist, was crushed in his car by falling logs from an overloaded log truck on Highway 101 near Hoquiam.

Since then, his wife, Kathleen Ellsbury, has been instrumental in getting state lawmakers to improve highway safety. Now Ellsbury is taking her fight to the feds.

Ellsbury never thought she would be crusader. But when her husband was killed, everything changed. Ellsbury, along with other families who lost loved ones in deadly crashes, is pushing Congress for tougher trucking regulations.

"I'm here to ask Congress and the president to freeze the truck sizes and freeze the weight limits. It just doesn't make sense to go up on this," she said.

In addition to Qamar, a well-known and respected professor and seismologist at UW, fellow seismologist Daniel Johnson was also killed.

Investigators said the driver of that semi truck was on methamphetamine, and speeding excessively. The driver was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

Although the driver and the company that operated the truck had a long history of safety violations and equipment problems, there was no system for cracking down on chronic violators.

Ellsbury led the charge to change that with a new state law that allows State Patrol to more information. The was named after the two men who died.

"He felt safety was paramount, always. So it was ironic that someone else's disregard for safety is what killed Tony and Dan," said Ellsbury.

As part of a national effort to get Congress to hit the brakes on giant rigs, truck safety advocates have launched a Web site, StopBiggerTrucks.org.

It could be a tough, long battle. But it's one that Ellsbury is sure must move ahead.

The image shows the 2005 crash in which Tony Qamar and Daniel Johnson were killed.